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No doubt being tall is seen as a privilege that is often perceived to be a powerful and dominant advantage. So much so that regular height people are often jealous when they see other tall men flaunting their height to their advantage. However, rarely do we consider the tall guy problems that come with the territory.
It isn’t all NBA contracts and easy street for tall guys how it’s often perceived on social media and the likes. Tall guys have their own set of unique problems that affect their day to day lives in a way regular height people wouldn’t understand.
Once you consider the tall person’s problems mentioned below, it may just make you rethink whether being tall is an advantage at all. When you’re tall, you face several issues that average height people will never experience. This does make life complicated and even excludes you from certain aspects of life.
If you’re currently considered tall, then you probably are fully aware of these problems we face. But if you’re here representing the average height population, hopefully, this guide will give you a better understanding and respect for the taller guys out there.
Stick around to find out what problems are associated with being a tall male and maybe even learn how to help your tall friend by understanding the difficulties that it comes with the extra height.
Disadvantages To Being A Tall Man
If you’re tall, then you may end up having more health problems than shorter people. There are many reasons for this and for some, there isn’t a whole lot you can do about it. Height can dangerously affect your health, which is why it’s important to take extra care of your health if you’re tall.
Something like a simple fall can be painful for the average person, but not imagine you’re a tall person. Not only are you going to fall further, but there’s a good chance the area you’re in isn’t designed for a tall person. There’s more risk for a taller person to hit something on their way down, which can cause serious injury.
Is Your Heart In The Right Place
A study was done back in 2017, showing that taller people are more likely to have heart-related issues such as strokes or heart attacks. This was due to a specific type of blood clot that starts in a vein that affected taller men worse than shorter. In men who were 5’3″ had a 65% chance of not getting compare to men who were 6’2″.
There does seem to be a correlation between being taller and having a shorter lifespan. While there are no conclusive results just yet, there have been studies on rats that have shown this to be the case. If you look at history, you will see a lot of taller people don’t seem to live as long as their shorter counterparts.
You Guessed It – Back Problems
A common question asked by not only tall men, but it’s also a problem for tall women, is whether their back pain is a direct result of their extra height. Back pain is one of the most common complaints in all of the USA with it affecting everyone and not just tall people. But this does make you wonder why it seems that tall people suffer more so.
A big part of the reason tall people get sore backs is most things aren’t designed around there height. The things you take for granted aren’t offered to taller people, such as a simple cutting board or bathroom vanity. To prepare food, a tall person has to be hunched over continually.
Not only is this not comfortable, but also damaging to your back. To reduce the amount of strain on your back while preparing food, a raised cutting board can certainly help.
How Your Limbs Cause You Back Pain
It’s the simple things that tall people can’t help having because they were born that way, such as longer limbs. By having longer limbs, generally means the muscles have to work harder to gain enough movement and traction for the limbs to operate efficiently. This is especially true for the muscles in their backs, which is a big part of what causes the pain.
One thing that a tall person should do is not ignore their back pain because of the “I’m tall and get back pain mentality”. You should try and get yourself checked out by a professional if you do get back pain and not ignore it just because you’re tall. Partaking in lower back exercises as a tall person can also help to alleviate certain back pain.
Day To Day Issues For Tall Men
If you’re tall, then you’ve no doubt experienced some of the situations I’m going to go over. With what most people take for granted, the taller person has to suffer generally. There are several day to day issues that you’ll come across that make even the simplest of things difficult.
Sitting on a seat should be one of the most natural things on earth and shouldn’t be an issue. Being tall means finding a chair that will fit your legs and not cramp them up feels like an impossible task. Since most chairs are designed for people who are of average height and being tall means you’re going to be uncomfortable on most chairs.
As more and more of us work behind a computer screen these days, the risks of poor ergonomics are apparent for tall people. While most office chairs are height adjustable, they still don’t extend high enough to cater to someone with long legs. When you’re over 6 feet, you need to invest in an office chair for tall people to ensure you have the best ergonomics possible.
Extra Long Clothing, Does It Exist?
Being tall generally does come with things costing you more, which will usually make life more expensive. The chair example is just one of the hundreds of cases you will hear from taller people.
Clothes are another example of this where finding clothes that fit you comfortably is difficult. Everything from over the knee boots to more niche clothing like khaki pants for tall women is an extremely challenging shopping adventure.
Showering & Social Problems
There’s almost no doubt in my mind you’ve seen the pictures of tall people in front of mirrors. Perhaps you have laughed at a tall person trying to have a shower when the showerhead is down to their neckline. I feel these are some of the best examples of just how frustrating the day to day life of a tall person is and how nothing is designed for their height.
Then there is the way people will treat you and try and sneak photos of you, which all sounds like fun and games to some. While for you it’s a one-off, for them it’s a daily occurrence that can make them, even more, self-conscious of their height.
One of the most famous pictures is of the guy who had printed a card with his height and answered the mundane questions people ask him daily. This is a fact of daily life for tall people, with random people asking them inappropriate questions. Which again for most people seems harmless because I’ve only asked once, but for them, it’s the hundredth time.
Want To Go Camping?
Tall people find camping to be awkward at times. The reason being, tents aren’t always designed for someone edging in on 7 feet tall. While this is certainly not enough of a reason to deter me from my favorite pastime, its enough for some people.
Fortunately, there have been vast improvements in tents over the years, so much so that there’s quite a number of tents for tall people on the market. These tents have ceilings as high as 7 feet or more. Which is an ample amount of head clearance to walk around comfortably inside the tent.
Backpackers have also been known to feel like a sardine jammed inside a tiny tent. When it comes to backpacking, the tent needs to have extra length to cater to the taller person laying down. Many tents compromise this by making them shorter to save on the valuable weight of the tent.
But there are a handful of backpacking tents for tall people where the length of the tent is 90 inches or more. This is sufficient space so that the taller person can lay down straight, without having to curl up to fit.
Nows Not The Time To Lose Your Head
Doorways will never cause a shorter person an issue, and they’ll be able to go through them as much as they like. Where being tall, you feel like you need to wear a helmet for the number of times you’ve hit your head on a doorway.
While a doorway is a horrible thing for tall people, they’re nothing compared to the next monster a tall person will face. This is a ceiling fan that most people are thankful for as it keeps them cool.
When you’re tall, you need to watch out for them as they’re one of the most intruding things your face will come across. Getting kissed by Grandma in pubic is nothing compared to getting your face kissed by a ceiling fan.
Enough Of The Doom & Gloom
It isn’t all bad being a tall guy with there being a few advantages to having a longer torso. Thankfully there are things you will get that the average height person won’t understand, which is nice for a change.
You may have noticed that a lot of taller people are successful with there being a lot of actors and businessmen being tall. People like Tim Cook the current CEO of Apple is 6’3″ for one example.
One thing to note is that just being tall doesn’t guarantee success and that most of the tall successful people still worked for it. There does seem to be a correlation between the two tho. But if you want the full rub down, here are the 7 reasons taller people are more successful.
Head & Shoulders Above The Rest
Your friends will always be able to find you in a crowd, so this is really useful at a concert or in the event of an emergency. Another advantage at a concert is that there is less chance of someone being taller than you. It’s always nice having the best view, whether it be at a concert, festival etc.
For a tall male, dating will be easier for you since in general, most women like taller men. This does make the dating life more comfortable, and mentioning being 6’6″ on your tinder profile won’t exactly hurt your chances! This isn’t always going to be the case of course, but some may say that you’ll have a better chance than shorter men.
Do you need something off the top shelf at the store? Thankfully being tall you don’t need to ask someone for help as you can just reach it! This is a small advantage, but it’s really useful when grocery shopping and your partner will thank you for being tall enough to reach!
Some airlines are actually tall people friendly and will sometimes give you the window seat because of your height. So you’ll end up with more legroom compared to other passengers, which is a nice touch. This isn’t a guarantee and I’ve had my share of being cramped on a plane and not getting that seat!
